Hume Recites 'Rave Reviews' for Obama 'In Much of National Media'

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Reciting three quotes highlighted Tuesday night on NewsBusters (and the MRC's Wednesday CyberAlert), plus one from CNN's Campbell Brown which we missed, FNC's Brit Hume led his “Grapevine” segment Wednesday night by illustrating how “Barack Obama's speech on race yesterday played to rave reviews in much of the national media.” Hume recounted:

On NBC, the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart said the address was, quote, "a very important gift the Senator has given the country." NBC's own Chris Matthews said it was, quote, "worthy of Abraham Lincoln" and quote "the best speech ever given on race in this country." ABC's George Stephanopoulos said Obama's refusal to renounce his highly controversial pastor was, quote, "in many ways an act of honor." And on CNN, Campbell Brown called the speech "striking" and "daring," asserting that Obama had, quote, "walked the listener through a remarkable exploration of race from both sides of the color divide, from both sides of himself."

That effusing from Brown, formerly of NBC, came at the top of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 which she anchored Tuesday evening:

Whether or not you agree with what Barack Obama said and whether or not it solves his immediate political problem, it was striking. And, in one respect, it was daring. Instead of simply distancing himself today from his former pastor's offensive remarks, Senator Obama took the opportunity and the risk of doing much more. Quietly, but clearly with great passion, he walked the listener through a remarkable exploration of race from both sides of the color divide, from both sides of himself.

For the full quote from Matthews on Hardball, see the NewsBusters item by Geoff Dickens (MRC CyberAlert version), “Chris Matthews Hails Obama Speech as 'Worthy of Abraham Lincoln.'”

For the quotes championing Obama from Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart on the NBC Nightly News and George Stephanopoulos on ABC's World News, check my NewsBusters posting (also the lead Wednesday MRC CyberAlert item), “'Extraordinary' Obama Speech a 'Gift' for 'Confronting Race in America' with 'Honesty.'”